SPOILER for the answer:

Unbelievably, I think the answer is Gone With The Wind.

We don't have Jeopardy here in Australia any more, but I did once appear on a national quiz show, and was frustrated because I knew most of the answers, but one of the blokes I was up against had been drinking coffee all day and was much quicker to hit the buzzer than I was. I did win $1000 though *g*

Yep, astroKath, I agree.

I'm currently not watching, but have over the years. The whole purpose is to shout the answers before the contestants, isn't it? When "Who wants to be a Millionaire" came on I found myself answering those questions with questions. That show was much too slow for my taste.

I've a friend who auditioned for Jeopardy once but wasn't selected and who was indignant over the fact. I was surprised, she is a professor with a vast general knowledge base. She was also of a particularly prickly personality, so I always figured she lacked that charming spark they want for TV.

I came second on the Swedish Jeopardy show in '98 and would have won if I had realized that I was leading by far at the end of the show. The presenter was mad at me because he'd kept saying "Remember what Jeopardy" means" but I wanted to be sure of the second prize trip to Greece. I can't say I regret that I didn't jeopardize all my winnings, the trip was nice and it was rather stressful so one program was quite enough for me. We had to bring a suitcase of clothes for changing so we could make believe that the programs were shot different days.

Chris, I agree that Millionaire is (or was, it is off the air at the moment) way too slow. Also the host here in Australia was on many other programmes and earned the name 'Eddie Everywhere'. Add that to the fact that he couldn't say 'millionaire', but rather pronounced it 'mi-yon-aire', and I couldn't watch for more than a few minutes.

So what's Jeopardy? Don't think it's ever made it to the UK.

I liked Millionaire, myself. That's one I'd be tempted to go onto.

Martin beat me to it; I was about to ask the same question.
I rarely watch TV quiz shows but do listening to several excellent ones on the radio at lunch time, when I'm always at home.
These range from straight questions on general knowledge to a panel of 4 contestants, to a specialised music quiz Counterpoint where you need a wide knowledge of ALL sorts of music, to 'Brain of Britain'; very 'clever'. Regional teams are given a long, wordy, multi-layered 'clue' to which they must work out the answer.
A new type of game takes a group of contestants to an area of the British Isles and asks them clever questions eg. "Why is the harbour you can see in the distance no longer full of boats?" " This stream used to be known as St Spiggot's Well, what disease might you have been cured of if you drank the water?"
As you cannot see the area much imagination is required!
But they all help to keep the old grey cells from furring up.

We watch Jeopardy every night in this house!
DH has his strong subjects & I have mine-and then there are a whole bunch of categories that we know nothing about LOL!

Pat

check out the link to see just what Jeopardy is-sort of Trivial Pursuit in reverse for big $$$$. The winningist contestant ever lives in my county, or at least used to, until he won!

Here is a link that might be useful: all you EVER wanted to know about Jeopardy

I'm really surprised there is no British version of Jeopardy. I think it would be very popular there, as it has been here (US) for decades.

The gimmick is that they give you the answer and you have to supply the question, in question form or you are disqualified. There is a buzzer and being fast on the buzzer is critical. Jeopardy has been criticized for being male-dominated and some say it is because men are faster on the draw. It's also been criticized for being too white and too Euro-centric etc etc.

There are five categories in each of two rounds and five (I think) questions in each category. The second round is more difficult but you win (or lose) twice the money. The questions go from easier to more difficult.

It's really quite addictive and I see a marketing opportunity for some UK entrepreneur.

Doesn't the UK have its own quiz shows? I've seen a few of these (and I think I actually have a book of the questions (and answers) for a show called "Mastermind") and the questions are, I think, MUCH harder than the Jeopardy questions.

I think the UK shows seem to favor more of an in-depth knowledge of obscure or non-mainstream topics while Jeopardy seems to favor a more generalized knowledge base. As an example, I think a UK show would ask you for the date that something happened while Jeopardy would ask a question that is based on the event happening. (e.g. when was the Ali-Frazier fight as opposed to knowing that Ali and Frazier actually fought)

For the non-UK people, here's a link to quizzes for the show "Mastermind".

Here is a link that might be useful: Quizzes for Mastermind

I thought I posted after Ginny12 but don't see it. Anyway, my family has been known to pick up our supper dishes from the table and carry them into the family room to eat and watch Jeopardy--the only show for which my husband and I will allow this sort of behavior (since we are addicted to it ourselves and have been for years.) Among the four of us (me, husband, and two preteens) we usually have someone getting the right answer. Unfortunately, it may not mean we have a knowledgable family. Our local paper just ran an article about game shows dumbing down the questions and specifically mentions Jeopardy as becoming "fluffier" over the years.

Dyno, you are right about Mastermind. It was on TV weekly for years, and has recently returned.
The questions in the eg you give are taken from the game, but of course, the competitor doesn't get 4 questions with one right answer, they have to think of the answer . . . and it is done against the clock.
The first 'round' is general knowledge and the second is a 'specialist' round so very difficult for the ordinary viewer.
Another popular quiz is University Challenge in which two teams of 4 students from UK Universities/Medical/Music/Veterinary Schools take part.
It is fiendishly difficult and little time is given for the answers and the Quizmaster is well-known for his impatience and scorn!
If you scroll down on the link below to Audition you will find a list of questions that would-be contestants are asked, to see if they make the grade to take part in the programme.
The answers are below the questions.

OK How many did you get right?

Here is a link that might be useful: Questions from University Challenge

Uhhh....... 9.

I thought it was a RED dwarf. (I should have known that that was the wrong answer since Rimmer was nowhere to be found.) And I thought it was Maggie Thatcher. I also thought it was the Ark Royal (Henry VIII's ship). Oh, and I thought it was Ethelred the Unready instead of ......... Richard. And the "starling .... buffalo" question was neat. Diabolical, but neat. I also got my bearings WRONG. I thought it was, well ..... Canada (New York question).

13-but I had all the time in the world to think about them, and could gaze up and around...if they were being barked at me I would have puddled into maybe 2.

University Challenge reminds me of a tv quiz show in which I was a contestant in the 1960s: it was called College Bowl. I don't know if it is still around. Our panel was all female (we attended a women's college) and our opponents were all male. We knew just as many answers, but we were always beaten to the buzzer by the guys. The guys would guess and when they got the wrong answers, we got our chance to give the correct ones -- which, if I remember correctly, we did on all of them. Still, we were beaten by the guys' quicker draw.

What is with all the question marks in the sample quiz, such as those on #8?

Nevermind to my question. I should read rather than skim!

I got 11, was rather cross that the question was missing to which the answer was 'Grinling Gibbons', as I probably would have got it, and agree with cece that if time were a part of it, I would have got many fewer right.

I loved 'University Challenge' when we lived in Wales - who could resist a programme hosted by someone called Bamber Gascoigne?

We have a programme on the ABC here (non commercial station) called the Einstein Factor, which has things in common with Mastermind, in that there is a specialty section for each contestant plus a general knowledge section where they compete against each other, but the questions are not as difficult.

My husband and I have been playing Jeopardy since our college days, almost 40 years ago! We weren't married to each other then but each of us was really good. When we got together we were so good none would play with us! We went through MANY versions of the home game.

About 10 years ago we did try out for the show whenwe went on a trip to LA. There were about 100 people taking the written test, which had about 75 questions all at the hardest double Jeopardy level. I forget how much time you had but not a lot. To make it to the interview stage you could only miss 3 questions! Out of our group only 3 people got interviews! It was a humbling experience. Also, by the time we actually got signed up for the test we were past our prime in quick recall! I marvel when there are older contestents. I'm just not quick enough any more.

Millionaire was not only too slow it had dumb questions. I'm not in favor of pop culture as a knowledge base! Trivial Pursuit relied too much on luck, pop culture and often had wrong answers. We found it very frustrating.

When I auditioned for the national show I went on, I was really surprised at how many people were knocked out. I think there were about 75 questions, and they told those who hadn't got 35 right to leave. About two thirds of those there went home! I don't understand how they thought they would be able to compete if they couldn't get even half right. The questions were the same standard as on the show, and we were given a reasonable amount of time to give an answer.

Astrokath and Chris, you are, of course, correct that Scarlett was once Pansy! Can you imagine?

Congrats, Astrokath, on that $1000 win. Even at home, it's annoying when they hit that buzzer so fast. I'm thinking, "Give me a minute--I KNOW this one!" So I can imagine how frustrating that was for you.

It does seem that Jeopardy may have easier questions these days. Either that or I've picked up a little more general knowledge over the years.

But to actually be on TV would be beyond me. If they asked me my name on Millionaire and gave me four choices, I'd have to take the fifty-fifty, then call my mother.

The other quiz shows mentioned sound good. Wish we got them here. They would sure beat most of the drivel TV has to offer.

I am like you Froniga! I did go on a local TV quiz but did not do very well. All those lights and cameras pointing makes one go to jelly!
My late husband appeared on 15 to 1 when we lived in the UK. He won one round and got onto the leader board but got knocked out by someone with a higher score later in the series. Is that show still going?

Jeopardy is the only quiz show I've ever enjoyed watching. I don't get to watch it that much anymore, though. It's amazing how long it has been around, though.

Some of you may know this, but author Arthur Phillips was once a Jeopardy champion (five times over, I think).

I'm a slow simmerer myself, so I admire anyone who can think quickly on their feet, and Jeopardy is definitely challenging in that regard.

I only got 9 right, skimming quickly through. Xanadu was on the tip of my tongue but, alas couldn't dredge it up. The rest weren't even close. Well maybe Richard. I tried to cue it to Eleanor's dates, but guessed wrong.

Um, question #2 has the wrong answer attached to it. Maggie Tolliver isn't in Middlemarch--she's in The Mill on the Floss.

I seem to have killed this thread though I didn't intend to. I'm sorry I neglected to correct the typos in my post too. The name is Tulliver, not Tolliver, for one thing.

Carry on.

I missed this thread ... glad it came back up. My husband and I are avid fans.

I tried out for Jeopardy! around the time granjan did -- at least ten years ago, when it was still being made in the Burbank area.

I took the test and was one of the three selected that day for an interview. We played a mock game on a mock set and I did as well as the other two.

They told us if we weren't contacted by August, that was it. We'd have to try out all over again for the following season.

They also warned us that many teachers and students apply for the show, but the producers want contestants from as wide a variety of occupations as possible.

I assume that worked against me, since I am a teacher. (Okay, maybe it was my personality.) They never got in touch.

At any rate, I didn't try out again. I was so happy to get the interview, that was enough for me!

My friend's mother was actually on Jeopardy! (senior tournament, she didn't win) and we all went to watch. That's where I learned more about the show.

Alex was pleasant to everyone, even the go-fers.

The audience has to be really quiet -- it's very hard to sit there and not shout out answers (like we do at home).

As I recall they were taping 5 shows that day, so the contestants had to have changes of clothes, as mariannese mentioned.

Besides literature, facts about Canada, U.S. presidents and state capitals are heavily featured.

Just last Sunday my friends soon-to-be S-I-L said I should go on Jeopardy. I'm not sure what he was basing that on, but I doubt I'd get past the first interview/test.

My mom was a big Jeopardy fan. Years ago, it was on at 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning. Her habit was to pour herself a glass of Pepsi and have some cheese and crackers as she watched the show. One summer she babysat my four-year-old nephew and they always shared this little ritual. Well, one day a repairman was at the house working on the refrigerator. Mid-morning my nephew came flying in the door and asked loudly "Is Jeopardy on yet?" The man's jaw dropped and he looked at my mother and asked "Does HE watch Jeopardy?" My mother loved telling that story.